This is how a transaction should take place on our BST. If any BST Mods would like to add to this please just edit your advice in, I'm looking at your Tommy you're the guru =).

NOTE - Before you ever make an offer on an item you should ensure they are following all of TechPB's BST rules in regards to the photo of their item as well as the selling format. Please also before you send funds do your research, check their feedback, get all of their information etc.

The seller will then either accept or deny your offer, if they accept they will then set the item as "pending" to you and state how much it is going for. At this point even if someone offers more the seller SHOULD NOT give it to them, the item is pending to you, it is a deal that is sealed and it is yours unless you fall through on your end.

From here they should PM you their paypal email address, in return you send them your shipping address through PM.

You should also get their personal information, such as first and last name, home phone number (don't accept just a cell), call the home number to confirm it, get their address and cross reference that with something like Canada 411 online (I'm sorry I don't know what you'd use in the US but use the equivalent) to make sure that their phone number and address matches. Get their primary email address and maybe even a driver's license number. If they are under 18 years of age for the love of god talk to their parents to make sure their parents are first off aware of the transaction and are okay with it. This is could greatly help to avoid any issues happening with the deal. Also even something like searching google for their username with the word "scammer" attached may be a good idea, perhaps that same name has been used else where to conduct a scam and a google search will likely bring up any information on it. You may not choose to do all of these things but anything you can do to add another level of assurance is important.

Now a post should be made in the ad stating your agreement, what item is being sent, how it is being shipped (USPS/UPS/Fedex) as well as how long the seller has to ship it out. If it will be insured or not, as well as how much is being paid for the item and how it is being paid for. Also it should be stated who is paying/shipping first. This agreement is your contract, this states the terms of the deal for all (especially mods) to see so if anything goes wrong we know EXACTLY what the deal was and who has went wrong. Once all of this information is posted it should be agreed upon by the other party before any items are shipped or payment is sent.

You should now pay the money and keep a copy of the receipt paypal gives you, perhaps print it, or copy and paste it into notepad and save it, most important thing being the payment confirmation number, though paypal also retains a copy.

From here the seller will receive the funds and receives an email stating they've received money at this point they should ship out your item within an agreed upon time, such as 2 business days being agreed upon as acceptable. Within 2 business day (if that is what is agreed upon) he should in turn provide you with a tracking number for your item and naturally package the item properly to prevent any damage being done to it.

Any deviation from this process isn't really recommended.....at all.

If you are trading.

If you are trading an item it is important that both of you agree on who ships first and any other terms you may have, if cash is to be added, how much? How will the money be sent? When will it be sent?

Note for Sellers

Please be open to any questions a buyer is asking you, if for some reason you are uncomfortable answering a question in regards to personal information please PM a Mod to ask their advice or confer with your parents. Also PLEASE for the love of god ask your parents before listing an item, I've had a few deals fall through now because they were about to ship and their parents stepped in and said "You're not doing that!". Please, okay everything with your parents first, once you have reached a deal please have them look over the details of it and give their okay before accepting money or products. Also be sure to follow our BST rules and present the product in it's true condition, we aren't fond of people ditching their broken gear on people with the "It was fine when I sent it out" excuse, we don't buy it.

Do you see the 3 link in my post? The say cci phantom, ronin sc harness, and feedback. Those are in my signature and are clickable links which take you to my advertisments. People say "sig" "check my sig" etc when offering a trade

1) As a seller, Paypal says to get the email address of the buyer so you can send them an invoice. The advice above says to just send your Paypal email address to the buyer. Which is the proper route?
2) What does "set an item as pending" mean? Other than stating that the sale is pending to a buyer on the thread, is there anything else that needs to be done?
3) How long should you wait for the buyer to contact you after he/she has made an offer, you have accepted, and listed the product as pending? Especially if there are other potential buyer.

1) As a seller, Paypal says to get the email address of the buyer so you can send them an invoice. The advice above says to just send your Paypal email address to the buyer. Which is the proper route?2) What does "set an item as pending" mean? Other than stating that the sale is pending to a buyer on the thread, is there anything else that needs to be done?3) How long should you wait for the buyer to contact you after he/she has made an offer, you have accepted, and listed the product as pending? Especially if there are other potential buyer.

Thanks for the help.

Hey man,

1) You can do either of these. All you need is the sellers email address to send money. If you wish to send your email, or wait for the buyer to ask for it, they are both acceptable.

2)All you must do is edit your sales ad to say "pending". This is all that you need to do.

3) I would give it as long as you feel necessary. Give them time to see your answer, or follow up on other offers. These are choices that the seller has the right to make.

Question: The only way to know a true price is to make an offer as a buyer. One must know REAL prices to compare items, this means making multiple offers. I would say a transaction must get to a certain point before it is really "backing out".
Example.

Buyer: 255 shipped/pped?
Seller: Yes

AT this point the buyer knows the real price, but they still should feel able to shop around and compare the real prices of items. Otherwise they are confined to looking at one item, making an offer and being at the mercy of that seller for a response before they can make an offer on another item. I realize this is a discussion of decorum, but in the interests of pragmatism I would say a deal is not struck until....

Buyer: Ok, I;ll take it, whats your paypal?

At this point, the item is pending (in my mind) before this it's just two people talking real numbers. I suppose because this conversation happens publicly it is somewhat more annoying for the seller who must show his hand to other potential buyers, but it also sets a realistic bar that the seller is willing to accept. I don't see a cash offer as anything other then the start of a conversation, a test to see if a marker is even on someones radar, many peoples posted prices are anywhere from 50-150 higher then what they are happy to accept, others post a real, solid price. Offers are needed to compare possible purchases, I find it hard to consider them bad decorum if the buyers back out before agreeing. and I don't think the marker is pending until the buyer says yes, I don't think an offer says the buyer is ready to pay, just that they want to know if they could have it for that price.

Question: The only way to know a true price is to make an offer as a buyer. One must know REAL prices to compare items, this means making multiple offers. I would say a transaction must get to a certain point before it is really "backing out".
Example.

Buyer: 255 shipped/pped?
Seller: Yes

AT this point the buyer knows the real price, but they still should feel able to shop around and compare the real prices of items. Otherwise they are confined to looking at one item, making an offer and being at the mercy of that seller for a response before they can make an offer on another item. I realize this is a discussion of decorum, but in the interests of pragmatism I would say a deal is not struck until....

Buyer: Ok, I;ll take it, whats your paypal?

At this point, the item is pending (in my mind) before this it's just two people talking real numbers. I suppose because this conversation happens publicly it is somewhat more annoying for the seller who must show his hand to other potential buyers, but it also sets a realistic bar that the seller is willing to accept. I don't see a cash offer as anything other then the start of a conversation, a test to see if a marker is even on someones radar, many peoples posted prices are anywhere from 50-150 higher then what they are happy to accept, others post a real, solid price. Offers are needed to compare possible purchases, I find it hard to consider them bad decorum if the buyers back out before agreeing. and I don't think the marker is pending until the buyer says yes, I don't think an offer says the buyer is ready to pay, just that they want to know if they could have it for that price.